Mary J. Wilkerson

This book that I'm half through reading made me realize fully something that as a white Anglo -American ,I never fully understood before . Raised believing that Black Americans had just as fair a shot at success in America as the rest of us, now I see just how wrong I've been. It's very hard reading the stark truth of what my fellow Americans who are Black had to go through , before the civil rights amendment was ratified by some of our states. It's easier to stick your head in the sand and pretend that it's the individual white or black, that decides their own destiny. That's true to a point , but when you are shackled with a label put upon you that thwarts you at every turn. The goverment outlawed slavery ,yet never gave a helping hand to the ones freed with no resources ,property, monies or influence . Instead they were still dependent on the people who abused them for hundreds of years, leaving a wide open opportunity to be exploited. And exploited they were ;by the South violently, and the North too, although a lot less obviously. Today we still have a long way to go to have equality for everyone and being a woman I have experienced discrimination. Yet I realize that my still holding on to some of my preconceived notions ,that I might unwittingly be contributing to the problem of non- acceptance of all. I want to thank Isabel Wilkerson for her wonderful book full of relatable , likable characters, that woke up this old 75 year old white woman to what I can do to help change attitudes , including my own .I can do this by educating myself on the history of Black Americans in this country. I think The Warmth of Other Suns should be required reading in American schools.